The Old And The New: Marvel Studios’ Openings Comparison

If you were paying attention during the second trailer for Marvel’s Doctor Strange–and it’s pretty awesome–you probably noticed that the Marvel Studios opening has changed.

Here’s the original.

I like it because it harkens back to the roots of Marvel Studios, which is comic books.

It’s relatively simple, with great music by Brian Tyler that comes across heroic (although self-contained, almost simplistically so in fact) and stylistically unique.

The new Marvel Studios logo? It’s a whole other animal.

Initially it sets itself apart from the earlier iteration by increasing the size of ‘Studios,’ making it equal to ‘Marvel.’ Another crucial difference is that it incorporates not only comic panels, but painting, CGI and scenes from Marvel Studios’ movies.

It feels very odd to me in that it seems to be saying that while we may have started with comics, we’ve become so much more.

While that may be true, it’s a differentiation that I am not entirely sure is necessary to make.

Another thing is that it comes off visually cluttered, primarily due to the transitions from various media. It doesn’t look bad by any means, though it does appear that it’s trying to do too much, so it comes off a bit messy and out of control; lacking the efficiency and seeming effortlessness of the original.

The music, by Michael Giacchino, doesn’t feel quite as ‘massive’–for lack of a better word–as Brian Tyler’s work, but it does feel more nuanced and complex.

It also helps to ground and –to a greater or lesser extent–unify the visuals.

All in all, it’s an interesting change, though I don’t think it works as well as its predecessor, mainly because there’s just so much going on, relatively speaking.